


Is Kindness a Weakness?

by OhNoMyBreadsticks



Series: Bready's Melting Pot [5]
Category: The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Business, CEO, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Getting Together, Mentioned Duny/Pavetta (The Witcher)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:54:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25129630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OhNoMyBreadsticks/pseuds/OhNoMyBreadsticks
Summary: Running a business has many challenges, none of which are too much for Calanthe to handle. She's never met a man quite like Eist before, but she's sure she can handle him too.If only he'd stop being so infuriatingly nice...
Relationships: Calanthe Fiona Riannon/Eist Tuirseach
Series: Bready's Melting Pot [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1784857
Comments: 14
Kudos: 22
Collections: Melting Pot Prompts





	Is Kindness a Weakness?

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the melting pot prompt challenge my favorite little server is running. The prompt for this fic was “On a scale of 1 to "Murderous", how mad would you be if... ” and I knew I wanted to write some Calanthe/Eist! I absolutely ADORE these two, I spent a whole day or two obsessing over their interactions in the banquet scene in the book and the show!! And, since AUs are what I do best, I stuck them in an AU lol. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Calanthe had always thought that customers were supposed to be the annoying part of running a business. That, or accountants. Either way, she just really hadn’t expected the biggest thorn in her side to be a rival business owner. Competition was something she thrived on - she delighted in getting the upper hand over her rivals and showing them her ability to control the market. Therefore it stood to reason that any competitor would simply be an interesting aside to her actual job, not something that had her grimacing at the sound of his name being announced. 

Eist Tuirseach, the man who owned half of the boating industry (the good half, as he’d be quick to remark with a chuckle), was currently on his way into her office. And Calanthe wished in this moment that she wasn’t too old and dignified to slither under her desk and hope that she could hide until he went away. Not that she’d ever give a man the satisfaction of knowing she wanted to avoid him. That would inflate his pathetic little ego far too much, and she wasn’t about to do that. So instead, Calanthe sat at her desk and went over reports from last week as she heard the door to her office open, not even needing to look up to recognize Eist’s footfalls. 

Okay, when had  _ that _ become a thing she recognized?

The problem with Eist wasn’t that he was bloodthirsty or cutthroat. Calanthe’s first business partner had been those things and much more, and she had outlasted him. She had no trouble in disguising her iron will long enough to lull men like that into a sense of false security, at which point they could be dispatched of. Eist wasn’t simpering either, crawling up to her seat and kissing at her feet in an attempt to disguise just how much he truly despised her. Those kinds of men were almost worse to deal with, but Calanthe had no problem doing it. 

No, the problem with Eist was that he was infuriatingly  _ nice _ . How he managed to survive in the high stakes world of business by being nice was absolutely beyond Calanthe. She had only ever seen hints of his true strength behind all the kind small talk and smiles, and that was somehow infuriatingly tantalizing. Not that she wanted to understand Eist. Understanding him wouldn’t undo how much of a headache he was, and boy was this man a headache. 

Every time he came to her office to discuss something it was the same song and dance. He’d wait patiently until she was finished with her work, even if they could both see it wasn’t actually work and just paperwork she was shuffling around on her desk to make herself seem busy. And then, when she finally lifted her head to ask what he wanted, he’d smile and make some sort of ridiculous small talk. Calanthe would grit her teeth and follow him through a meandering conversation about some lake or other he’d visited, or what she thought about the new restaurant down the street. Spoiler alert, she had no opinion, because she didn’t have time to eat out all the time.

Then, finally, Calanthe would manage to pin Eist down about what he wanted in a business sense, and they’d have a brief and fruitful conversation. That was the worst part - discussing business with Eist was easy and satisfying. He knew what he wanted, he usually had a good idea of what she was willing to give him, and he knew when to press and when to back down. They worked well together, although Calanthe would rather have eaten her own planner than admit it. The worst part was yet to come, after all.

Today, like every time Eist visited her office, he finished up their business conversation and leaned forward in his chair with a smile on his face. Calanthe mentally braced. 

“On a scale of 1 to "murderous", how mad would you be if I invited you out to dinner with me tonight?” Eist asked, the same question he had been asking since the very first meeting they had ever had. The first few times, it had caught Calanthe off guard, but now it was just another ritual in their little dance. Which was definitely not something she enjoyed because of the familiarity. Absolutely not. 

“Very murderous. You do know my day is very busy, Eist. I’d hate to have to cancel a board meeting just to work time into my schedule to kill you.” Calanthe replied, like always.

And Eist just laughed, the sound soft and offensively fond as he pushed his chair back and stood up. “Ah well, I would hate to inconvenience you in such a way, so I won’t bother asking.” He teased, eyes twinkling with more mirth than Calanthe thought was altogether appropriate for a business owner. With one last little wave and another smile, Eist was gone, leaving Calanthe to nurse her own annoyance at being interrupted and subjected to such a ridiculous little exchange. 

Didn’t Eist know he didn’t have a chance?

He must have known, but that apparently wasn’t going to stop him. This went on for months, then a year, then more months after that. Eist would ask the same question, Calanthe would give some variation on the same answer, and they would part ways. Every time she wished that they could just dispense of it altogether, and stop wasting each other’s time. Little did she know, she was about to have said wish granted.

It happened on a day that was already doing its damndest to compete for ‘Worst Day Ever’ in Calanthe’s books. She was on the cusp of acquiring a particularly fantastic piece of property, but her daughter had decided that  _ now _ was the best time to reveal that she was in love with some hippy environmentalist, and that the property was actually some kind of nature preserve. It was infuriating, to say the least, and Calanthe’s nerves were on the verge of snapping from the tension of watching her daughter on TV denouncing the actions of her own mother’s company. Ridiculous. Absolutely unfair, since everything Calanthe did was to make sure Pavetta never needed to scratch and claw her way through the world the way she had. 

Everything was going so perfectly wrong that Calanthe didn’t even think before answering her phone with a snapped “What do you want?” Her headache only intensified as Eist’s calm voice answered her back from the other side of the line. Perfect. Just great. Here was another person with an opinion on her life, and a man no less. 

“I wanted to call and see if you were doing alright” Eist said, “There’s been so much media coverage about your daughter today, and the property...I can only imagine it’s been hell figuring out how to back out of the contract.”

“I’m not backing out of the contract.” Calanthe growled, her anger only rising as Eist assumed she was going to bow to some group of nature conservationists who didn’t know her or her business.

“...Calanthe.” Eist said softly, his voice saying her name burning into her brain like a brand, “I’m sure there are better ways to do this. As...well, allow me to urge you to reconsider. This is clearly important to your daughter, not to mention that it’s the right thing to do. Why don’t I come to your office, you can explain to me what’s happening, and we can look at it together.”

There were so many things rushing through Calanthe’s mind at that moment that she barely knew how to answer. Eventually she managed to spit out “How _dare_ you lecture me on my own business! How _dare_ you tell me what’s right! I don’t want to see you anywhere near my office ever again or I’ll have you arrested for harassment, _Mister_ _Tuirseach_.” The emphasis on his last name was a cruel final stab, something she hadn’t done since they’d first been introduced.

Eist was silent on the other end of the line for a good minute or so before he replied. “I see. I’ve overstepped, I apologize. I meant what I said, but I can see my presence isn’t wanted. Good luck, Ms. Riannon.”

The silence that overwhelmed the office after Eist hung up was so overwhelming that Calanthe indulged in the childish urge to bury her face in her arms on top of the desk. Ridiculous, upsetting, terrible man! How dare he speak to her like they were more than business partners! Like he knew anything about her. 

Like...they had been having pleasant personal conversations with each other for years now. Like she had told him about her relationship with her daughter, and her worries over the reputation of her company. 

‘We can look at it together’ he had said.

Like they were equals. Fuck. 

Calanthe had always sworn that men couldn’t be trusted because they’d never see you as an equal, but Eist had apparently been proving her wrong for the past year at least. He had called because he was worried about her, clearly, and he had instantly assumed she was going to do the ‘right thing’, not whatever cutthroat or bitchy move the media had set her up for. As much as Calanthe hated to admit it, she had been wrong to lash out at him. Gross. She had always taught Pavetta that an apology wasn’t a weakness though, which was how she found herself standing in the lobby of the Skellige corporation, waiting impatiently for Eist to emerge from his office.

He looked worried when he arrived, and closed off in a way she’d never seen him before. The smile was still there, but it was guarded. Hurt. Calanthe grit her teeth the way she always did when he first approached. This time though, she was the one to speak first, meeting Eist’s eyes boldly despite her nerves.

“On a scale of 1 to "murderous", how mad would you be if I invited you out to dinner with me tonight?” Calanthe asked, leaving the ‘As an apology for snapping over the phone.’ unsaid.

And there it was, that fond smile that she had grown so accustomed to, beaming out across Eist’s face. “I believe I’ll need to look up the word that’s the opposite of ‘murderous’” he said with a chuckle, “Does ‘delighted’ work for you? Or perhaps ‘pleasantly surprised’?” Calanthe simply rolled her eyes and held out her arm for him to take. Which, much to her own pleasant surprise, he took without any comment.

“I’m less concerned with words than actions, Eist.” She said simply, and from the way he pressed their shoulders together as they walked, she knew he felt the same.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! If you want to talk about Calanthe/Eist please please reach out to me here or on tumblr I am hungry for more content!!!
> 
> Any and all kudos or comments will be loved and cherished <3 I'm available on [tumblr](https://ohnomybreadsticks.tumblr.com/) if you ever feel like chatting or reading some of my lil drabbles, I’d love to see you there C:


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